This image appears on page 68 of the book 'In the Company of Crows and Ravens', published in 2005 by Yale University Press. Tony Angell won the 2006 V&A Illustration Awards for his illustrations to this work. Of his illustrations, artist Tony Angell says: 'The best way for me to depict my subject is to work from the inside out. I have lived with and been in close proximity to these subjects and have a "feeling" about them that influences my illustration. They are not merely forms on a landscape to be precisely delineated, but they are spirited personalities, intelligent and insightful and who knows, perhaps a bit of the supernatural as well. My challenge in illustration is to convey these somewhat intangible qualities in a manner that compliments and expands our narrative.'

Bird artists Morris Graves and Don Eckelberry inspire him for their expressiveness, and Tlingit, Tsimshian and Haida carving and Japanese Edo screens for their emotion and form. These influences lead to an emphasis on form and line in his work and an emotional quality that brings his portraits alive. In this book this is enhanced by his particular passion for crows and ravens. Speaking to Deloris Tarzan in 1999 he said, 'Their foibles are our own. They squabble within their families and wage battles with those clans that would impinge upon their home ground. Their lives involve a struggle for identity in their social hierarchy.'

Physical description

Black and white scraperboard image showing three crows on a branch of a palm tree. The texture of the plumage and bark and leaves of the tree are shown with fine white lines.

Place of Origin

Seattle (probably, made)

Date

2005 (made)

Artist/maker

Angell, Tony, born 1940 (designer and maker)

Materials and Techniques

Scraperboard

Marks and inscriptions

'Angell'
Artist signature in pen, bottom right

Dimensions

Object history note

Donated by the artist.

Descriptive line

Scraperboard illustration by Tony Angell, 'Jamaican Crows', illustration to 'In the Company of Crows and Ravens', authors John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell, published Yale University Press, 2005; made probably Seattle, U.S.A.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Marzluff, John M. and Tony Angell. In the Company of Crows and Ravens. London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005, page 68.